Stoke City star 'should have been banned for punching Watford player'

Stoke City's Xherdan Shaqiri is booked by referee Michael Oliver during the Premier League match against Watford at Vicarage Road. He has since been accused of punching a Watford player. (Image: Daniel Hambury)

The bust-up between Stoke City and Watford refuses to die down, with the Hornets’ manager now claiming Xherdan Shaqiri punched one of his players.

Watford striker Troy Deeney has already been banned for three games for gouging the face of Stoke midfielder Joe Allen, while the FA has charged both clubs for failing to control their players during a melee late in the game.

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But now Marco Silva is claiming Stoke star Shaqiri should have been punished too after accusing him of punching Watford winger Andre Carrillo.

Claiming to have spotted the incident while watching a video re-run of the game, Silva told the Hertfordshire Mercury: “I felt something had happened when Carrillo went down after the punch by Shaqiri, but when I spoke to the referee at the end of the game I didn’t speak about it because in that moment I hadn’t seen it.